Speed control for engines



H. C. 11 A. T. CLAY.

SPEED CONTROL FOR ENGINES.

APPucATloN man MM2?. :915.

Patented Aug". 15, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l "nii H. C. 6I A. T. CLAY. SPEED CONTROL FOR ENGINES.APPLICATION FILED MAI/27. IsIs.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

j\\\\ QN QW m. NM OM. .IF III- o IlIIIIII U. -IIII IIIIIII @GII IlIIIIlIMwHEMIrIIII/II ,Cw mm QN I, MN. N @mhh/@QQN r. Y 1%.

HARRY C. CLAY AND ALBERT T. CLAY, 0F COLUMBUS, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TOEMERSON-BBANTINGHAM COMPANY, 0F ROCKFOBD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OIIEILLINOIS.

SPEED coN'rNoL ron ENGINES. i

risalire..

ratentea Aug. i5, rare.

Application led. May 27, 1915. Serial No. 30,842.

To all 'whom t may concern.:

Be it known that we, I-IARRY C. CLAY and ALBERT T. CLAY, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Columbus, in the county of BartholomewandState of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpeed Controls for Engines, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to speed controlling devices for steam orinternal combustion engines, and is designed more particularly forapplication to and use in connection' with engines of that type whereinthe engine shaft is connected by a clutch to a transmission or'similarshaft, such engines beingcommonly employed on automobiles, l'motmrvehicles, tractors, and the like.

Our present improvement has, furthermore, been cation to governorcontrolled engines Such, for'instance, as internal combustion enginesextensively used on tractors. The method heretofore employedfor changingthe speed of a gas tractor has been to change the adjustment of thegovernor by means' of a sector located in the vicinity of the steeringwheel.. A. t

Cnc of the main obj ects of the present 1nvention is to provide amechanism whereby the speed of the engine can be. changed by the same'lever which .operates the ,transmission clutch, so that when the clutchis engaged the governorwill be adjusted so that the speed of the enginewill be held normal for doing work, and when the clutch is dise engaged,the speed of the engine will be reduced.

A further object of the invention is to save fuel and wear on the enginewhen running idle.

rIhe above stated objects of the invention are preferably accomplishedthrough a governor adjusting or controlling mechanism, in turn actuatedin one direction by the clutch lever and in the reverse direction by aspring, but the broad principle of the invention is applicable tothrottle-valvey control of engines having no governor, or it may beembodied in a mechanism that is employed with, butis independent of, thegovernor.

One practical-and working embodiment of our inventlon as applied toagoyernor controlled internal combustlon engmeis illus'- designedprincipally for applclutch lever and its associated parts shown at'theextreme left of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of' aportion of lite governor control mechanism shownin Referring to thedrawings, 10 designates as an entirety a four cylinder internalcombustlon engine of a type extensively used on gas tractors. 11designates the en e shaft, and 12 and 13 the relatively mova le parts ofthe usual transmission clutch by which the engine shaft 11 is connectedto and disconnected from the transmission shaft 14.

15' designates the clutch-operating lever fulcrumed on a suitablebracket 16 and at its lowerl end 'connected by a link 17 to the outerend of a clutch-engaging lever 18 that is suitably fulcrumed at 19 on afixed frame piece (not show-n).

20 .designates the fuel supply pipe of the engine in which is pivotedthe throttle valve 21 on the spindle of which is an arm 22 that isconnected by a link 23 to one end of a governor-actuatedg lever 24, saidlever being fillcrumed at 25 in a manner more particularly describedlater, and at its other end being suitably articulated to the lower endof the sleeve 26 of an ordinary centrifugal governor 27.

Referring nowv to those features wherein our present invention moreparticularly resides, 28 designates an arm pivotally mounted by a pin 29on the bracket 16, said arm 28 having a tail-piece 30 that is 'adaptedto swing across the path of movement bf the clutch-lever 15, saidtail-piece 30 being normally held against the lower or inner edge of theclutch lever 15 by a spring hereinafter described. Pvoted to the arm 2 8is a i the engine.

clevis 31 through which extends the threaded end of aconnecting rodorlink 32, the other end of which is connected to the lower end of abell crank lever 33, this latter being pivoted at its elbow as shown at34 to a bracket 35 secured to one o f the cylinder jackets or anylsuitable frame member of The rod 32 is conveniently and adjustablyconnected to the clevis\ 21 by suitable nuts 36 and 37. To the short armof the bell crank lever 33 is -fulcrumed the governor-actuated lever 24at the point 25, before referred to. To the lower end of the l bellcrank lever 33 or to the end of the rod `32 connected thereto is securedone end of a tension spring 38, the other end of which is anchored at 39to the crank case or any other suitable frame member' of the engine.

40 designates a iXed stop on the bracket 16 that is designed to coperatewith an adjustable contact screw 41 mounted in the free end of the arm28 so as to limit the eX- tent of swinging movement -of said arm 28under the impulse of spring 38.

The operation and advantages of the described mechanism will be readilyapparent. l

Assuming that the clutch is engaged and the clutch lever15 is in itsforward position, as indicated by dotted lines -in Fig. 3, and theengine is running at normal working speed, when the engine isdisconnected from the work by shifting the clutch lever 15 to the fullline position (Figs. 1 and 3) the lever 15 through engagement with thetail-piece 30 of the pivoted arm 28 swings the latter outwardly and thusthrough the clevis 31, rod

32 and bellV crank lever 33, shifts`the fulcrum 25 of thegovernor-actuated lever 24 upwardly to the full line position shown inFigs. 3 and 5, thereby effecting a movement of the throttle valve 21- ina closing direction and instantly adjusting the governor controlu to thefree running condition of the engine. When the reverse operation takesplace and the clutchis thrown into engagement by shifting the lever 15to its forward position as shown in Fig. 2 and by dotted lines in Fig.3, spring 38 acts to draw the several parts of the governor controlmechanism in the reverse direction until the contact screw 41 strikesthe fixed stop 40. ThisV shifts the fulcrum 25. of the governor-actuatedlever 24 downwardly, thereby i'nstantly effecting a movement of thethrottle valve 21 inan opening direction. By the time the f lever 1'5has been thrown forward to such a point as will permit the movement ofarm 28 to be arrested 'by the stop 40, the clutch is not engaged, whichallows the engine to reach full speed before the clutch is applied. Thismechanism allows the clutch lever 15 to move in clutch-engagingdirection the required amount toengage the clutch without anyinterference, and should this movement of the lever 15 vary, it does notat all affect.

v far enough to the adjustment of the governor control mechanism.'`Another advantageous feature is found in the fact that the clutch lever15 can move in clutch-disengaging direction partly pass the tail-piece30 of the swinging arm 28 after the required movement of said swingingarml is accomplished. This holds the swinging arm in position whilethisl eXtra movement of the clutch lever 15 is going on. Thus, noaccurate adjustment of clutch lever 15 is required to securel theaccurate adjustment of the swinging arm 28, which is very important. Bymeans of this device the engine is controlled by the governor at bothits normal working speed and its reduced 'idle running' speed. The nuts36V and 37 are for the purpose of adjusting the throttle valve for theslow or idle running speed by adjusting the length of the connectinglink 32, which adjustment shouldfbe made first. The screw 41 is for thepurpose of adjusting the throttle valve for the fast or Working speed.

While we have shown and described our improvements as applied to agovernor controlled engine, it will be manifest that if the governorwere omitted or were independent of the described mechanism forcontrolling thethrottle valve by the movement of the clutch lever, saidmechanism would still operate in the manner described to instantlyythrottle the engine when the y clutch is disengaged and thus preventracing vwhere much starting and stopping is required and it is alsouseful in general traction work.

We claim:

1. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections therefrom to the throttle valve of the engine,a spring, and

means actuated in one direction by said lever v and in the reversedirection by said spring or varying the adjustment of saidgovernor-actuated' connections to the throttle- 2. The combination of anengine, a transmlssion clutch, a clutch-actuating lever and connectionstherefrom to said clutch, a governor and connections therefrom to thethrottlef valve of the engine, means actuated by said lever whenthrown'to clutch-disengaging position for shifting said governoractuatedconnections in a direction to effect ideama a movement of said throttlevalve in a closing'direction, and a spring normally tending to shiftsaid governor-actuated connections in the reverse `direction to effect amovement of said throttle valve'in an opening direction.

` 3. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections, yincluding a i lever,

therefrom to the throttle valve of the engine,

a spring, and means actuated in one direction by said clutch lever forshifting the fulcruin of said governor-actuated lever in one directionand actuated in the reverse direction by said spring for shifting thefulcrum of said governor-actuated lever:y in the opposite direction.

41. rlhe combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, avclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections, including a lever, therefrom to the throttlevalve of the en.- gine, means actuated ,by said clutch lever when thrownto clutch-disengaging position for shifting the fulcrum of saidgovernoractuated lever in a direction to eHect a movement of saidthrottle valve in a closing direction, and a spring normally tending toshift the fulcrum of said governor-actuated lever in the reversedirection to eHect a movement of said throttle valve in an openingdirection.

5. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections therefrom to the throttle valve of the engine,a spring, means actuated in one direction by said lever and in thevreverse direction byy said spring for varying the adjustment of:y saidgovernor-actuated connections to they throttle valve, vand an adjustablestop device for controlling the extent of spring-actuated movement ofsaid adj ustment-varying means.

6. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating leverand connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections, including a lever, therefrom to the throttlevalve of the engine, a spring, means actuated in one direction by saidclutch lever for shifting the fulcrum of said governor-actuated lever inone direction and actuated in the reverse direction by saidspring forshifting the fulcrum of said governor-actuated lever in the oppositedirection, and an adjustable stop device for controlling the extent ofspring-actuated movement ofsaid fulcrum shifting means.

7. Thecombination of an engine, a transmission clutch, a clutclactuatinglever and i connections therefrom to said clutch, a governor andconnections therefrom to the throttle valve of the engine, and meansactuated by said lever upon moving the saine to till:

engage the clutch for adjusting said governor-actuated connection tomove the throttle valve in an opening direction prior to engagement ofthe clutch.

8. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor and connections therefrom to the throttle valve of the engine,and means controlled upon movement of sai-d lever to clutch-engagingposition for effecting movement of said governor-actuated connections soas to move the throttle valve in an opening direction prior toengagement of the clutch.

9. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to said clutch, agovernor, means operable between the governor and throttle valve of theengine for controlling the engine at either working or idle- 4runningspeeds, and means coperable between the clutch lever and saidthrottle-controlling means for so operating the latter that upon movingthe` lever to engage the A clutch, the said throttle-controlling meanswill be moved to working-speed position prior to engagement of theclutch.

10. The combination of an engine, a governor, control connectionsbetween the govlernor and connections therefrom to the throttle valve ofthe engine, means for adjusting said connections so that the governorwill control the throttle valve in either a predetermined working or anidle-running speed, a transmission clutch, and means lfor simultaneouslyoperating the clutch and said adjusting means to adjust said connectionsto working 'speed position prior to the operation of engaging theclutch.

12. The combination of an engine, a transmission clutch, a`clutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to the clutch, agovernor and connections, including a lever therefrom to the throttlevalve of the engine, and means actuated by said clutch lever forshifting the fulcrum of said governoractuatedlever. A

13. The combination of anl engine, a transmission clutch, aclutch-actuating lever and connections therefrom to the clutch, a gov-Vernor and connections therefrom to the throttle valve ofthe engine, alever arrangedto be actuated bythe clutch-actuating lever, andconnections between the-second named lever and the throttle-actuatingconnections for shifting the latter by throwing the clutch-actuatinglever into and out of clutch-engaging position.

14. In a speed control for engines, the combination of an engine, atransmission clutch, a clutch-actuating lever and connections therefromtothe clutch, means for adjusting the throttle valve of the enginewhereby to operate the same at any of a plurality of predetermineddifferent speeds, and means actuated upon movement of saidclutch-actuating lever from clutch-disengaged to clutch-engagedposition, for adjusting said throttle-adjusting means to effect prior toengaging the clutch, a predetermined speed higher than that at which theengine is running.

15. In a speed control for engines, the combination of an engine, atransmission the throttle-adjusting lever in a reverse direction whenthe clutch lever is moved to clutch-engaging position, and an adjustablestop for limiting movement of the throttle-` adjusting lever in thislatter direction while permitting the movement of the clutch lever to becontinued to e'ect final engagement of the clutch after the saidthrottle adjusting lever has been stopped.

HARRY C. CLAY. ALBERT T. CLAY.

